Soccer

2:37 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent MANCHESTER, England — Sir Alex Ferguson used to say the key to the title race was to stay in touch with the leaders until Christmas and then win it in the second half of the season. For the first time since Ferguson retired in 2013, Manchester United have done the

1:23 PM ET Manchester United hammered Leeds United 6-2 at Old Trafford on Sunday in their first Premier League meeting since 2004 thanks to a stunning opening first half performance in which they scored four times. Scott McTominay scored twice within the opening three minutes with Bruno Fernandes and Victor Lindelof adding the third and

6:28 AM ET Alex Kirkland Mohamed Salah has said his Liverpool future is “in the club’s hands” and was “very disappointed” to be overlooked for the captaincy in their Champions League match with FC Midtjylland this month. Salah, 28, expected to wear the armband for the final group D game on Dec. 9 with Jordan

3:49 PM ET LIVERPOOL, England — As first anniversaries go, Mikel Arteta could definitely have asked for a better way to mark one year in charge of Arsenal. Yet all he got on Saturday was a seventh defeat in 10 Premier League games and a run of results that marks the club’s worst start to

11:57 AM ET The LA Galaxy is in advanced discussions with former Toronto FC head coach Greg Vanney to be the team’s next manager, sources have confirmed to ESPN. Grant Wahl was the first to report the current state of the talks. – Insider Notebook: Juventus propose Pogba-Dybala swap deal– MLS on ESPN+: Stream LIVE

3:30 AM ET Remember the soccer team that went viral after they released a tuxedo-themed kit? Perhaps you saw the stir caused by a muscular uniform that made the players look like figures in a medical school textbook? Or even the club that fielded a team of players all dressed as The Hulk? Well, behind

12:25 PM ET Sid LoweSpain writer At the end of Real Madrid’s 2-0 victory against Atletico Madrid last week, Zinedine Zidane was asked to define Karim Benzema in a word. In the end, he needed two … and then, a few more. “The best,” Real Madrid’s manager said, pausing to add: “I’d describe him as

10:46 AM ET Edin Terzic, a son of immigrant parents from the former Yugoslavia, is living the Dortmund dream. Like many other football-mad kids born and raised in Germany‘s industrial west, his formative years were often spent conjuring up mental images of scoring goals for his club of choice, of course the Schwarzgelben. While that

3:32 AM ET Paul Pogba to Juventus and Paulo Dybala to Manchester United? ESPN’s Insider Notebook has the latest: PLUS: Lionel Messi waits for the new Barcelona president. Jump to: Messi future depends on next Barca president | Liverpool’s Wijnaldum replacement | Moukoko gives hopes to Germany refugees | Real Madrid kids win 31-0, sparking

6:32 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent SHEFFIELD, England — The nervousness in the build-up to the trip to Sheffield United is evidence enough that not all Manchester United fans are convinced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team. But there will be renewed optimism about what could be possible this season after a 3-2 comeback win at Bramall

12:10 PM ET It’s the blockbuster deal that seems too crazy to happen, involving two of the biggest clubs in the world and their most high-profile stars, but it could be the only solution to the problems that Manchester United and Juventus are struggling to solve. In many ways, a player swap that would see

4:12 PM ET LONDON — Mikel Arteta is still searching for a route out of Arsenal‘s malaise but keeping 11 men on the pitch might be a good place to start. As Gabriel jogged off, after being shown a second yellow card in the 62nd minute, midfielder Dani Ceballos turned to the assistant referee and

6:58 PM ET LIVERPOOL, England — There were only 2,000 fans inside Anfield to celebrate Roberto Firmino‘s 90th-minute winner for Liverpool against Tottenham Hotspur, but the noise that the small crowd generated told you everything about the importance of the Brazilian forward’s late header. Firmino knew too, as his celebratory run deep into his own

4:46 PM ET Liverpool have proved themselves the Premier League’s irresistible force in the past 18 months, and we’re about to find out whether Tottenham Hotspur can become the immovable object at the top of the table this season. Reds boss Jurgen Klopp put it slightly differently in his Tuesday news conference, labeling Spurs a

6:40 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent MANCHESTER, England — West Brom have never won a Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium and kicking off here 19th in the table and with just one win all season, they were never expected to start now. That said, it says everything about where Manchester City are at the

4:21 PM ET WOLVERHAMPTON, England — Frank Lampard won enough Premier League titles as a Chelsea player — three in six seasons between 2004 and 2010 — to know what it takes to emerge at the top of the tree when the silverware is handed out, so maybe he knew what was coming when he

4:29 PM ET Arsenal have moulded the club’s off-field structure around Mikel Arteta. Now it is time to do the same with the playing staff. It’s been 95 days since the Gunners effectively promoted a 38-year-old with no previous experience of leading a club from “head coach” to “manager.” While that decision slipped under the

7:00 AM ET Multiple Contributors “In Barcelona, on Dec. 14, 2000, in the presence of [Josep Maria] Minguella and Horacio [Gaggioli], Carles Rexach, FC Barcelona’s sporting director, hereby agrees, under his responsibility and regardless of any dissenting opinions, to sign the player Lionel Messi provided that we keep to the amounts agreed upon.” The above